Stolen Tillamook microbuses found in Lode

COPPEROPOLIS - Manteca police reported late Monday night that they had recovered three stolen Tillamook cheese microbuses in a Copperopolis storage unit.

By The Record

recordnet.com

By The Record

Posted Jul. 14, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 15, 2014 at 12:34 AM

By The Record

Posted Jul. 14, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 15, 2014 at 12:34 AM

» Social News

COPPEROPOLIS - Manteca police reported late Monday night that they had recovered three stolen Tillamook cheese microbuses in a Copperopolis storage unit.

The vans, a truck and a cargo trailer were stolen from a Manteca hotel parking lot early Saturday morning. The vintage Volkswagen vans, each worth about $100,000, were undamaged. The California Highway Patrol came across the Tillamook cheese truck and trailer stolen along with the vans on fire in a rural area of Tuolumne County on Sunday. Prior to that discovery, the truck and trailer had been spotted near Copperopolis Town Square earlier in the day.

Manteca police have identified several suspects in the theft and will be providing that information shortly, according to Manteca Police Chief Nick Obligacion.

Police notified Tillamook shortly after the discovery. “They're ecstatic that all three were found so quickly,” he said.

The storage locker, at 49 Cosmic Court in Copperopolis, had been “very recently rented,” Obligacion said. A tip led to the location, and he said the tipster would likely be eligible for a $10,000 reward the company had offered previously. Several regional agencies were involved with the search warrant, including the auto theft task force and CHP, Lodi police, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's and District Attorney's offices, and the county probation department.

“If not for the efforts of the Delta Regional Auto Theft Task Force, this quick of a recovery would not have been possible,” said Obligacion, whose department has been fielding calls from across the country in connection to the theft.

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